It Should Be Called "Daddy's Day"

I have the best Daddy in the world!

He is always there to offer me advice (even when not solicited), and it is usually good advice.  Although we haven't always seen eye-to-eye on decisions I've made, I knew he would be there to congratulate me on my successes and pick me back up when I stumbled or failed. He's my "Mr. Fixit" and has been utterly invaluable helping me get my condo in order.

My Daddy is a true father, and because of that I choose to celebrate Daddy's Day and not Father's Day. Any man can father a child, but it takes a true man to be a Daddy. Over my 29 years (and counting), I've seen many types of men trying to be parents to their children, but I've not always seen a lot of great Daddies.

A Father will:

• be there for the big events in  your life (usually).
• will be home to tuck you in bed maybe once or twice a week.
• give you money on your birthday and say go have fun.  
• may occasionally meet your friends and can usually remember what you say about them.
• gives you advice on who to call to help you fix problems around your house. 

A Daddy, however, will:

• be at every practice, game, Spelling Bee, academic tournament, and help you at the last minute for your work events. 
• will be there every night to "bust" you and your brother for sneaking around and staying up late, tell you that you have 5 more minutes, and not to tell your mom. 
• take you to dinner for your birthday, talk to you about work, your life, and ask how projects are going around the house...sometimes money gets thrown in there, too...even when you turn 29. :)
• will get to know your friends and treat them like his own children if they ever need anything because he knows they are important to his daughter.
• buys you tools to help fix things and actually takes time to come down and help you with your home projects. 

Daddies are there to uplift their children, not yell at them and make them feel small. Arguments may happen, but they are almost never out of hatred, simply misunderstanding. Daddies never hit their children or the mothers of their children. Daddies do not treat children like yo-yos when it comes to love.

My Daddy has seen me through heartache, heartbreak, academic successes, career failures, personal triumphs, and household struggles. He has inspired me to be a better person and challenged me to not accept anything less than I deserve. Nothing is ever final to him...there's always room for negotiation to get the best of everything.

He has set the bar high for any man to live up to, and maybe that's why I've had such a hard time finding someone to measure up to my standards. Because my Daddy has been such a great role model for me, I only hope that I one day find a man who leads his life like he has and can be a great friend, husband, lover, and Daddy to our children.

I hope you have all been blessed to have a Daddy like mine. :) 

I'm Back...!!

It's hard to believe that it has been two and a half months since my last blog post, but time has really gotten away from me. Let's see...a recap of what I've been up to during that time: work, work, work, started seeing an ex, dumped that ex (again and for good) after realizing nothing had changed, decided to go back to law school, thought I met the man of my dreams, found out he was not who he said he was and got my heart broken again, work, work, vacation (10 days), spent time with a few friends catching up, got to spend some quality time with Buddy and Turkey, and back to work once again. I think that about covers my "exciting" life over the last couple of months. :)

Although most of the past couple of months has been spent literally working day and night, a lot of really great things have been happening as well. First, things have been moving forward with law school. Letters of recommendation and evaluations have been requested. I took the LSAT and should hopefully know my school by the end of the month. I'm starting to get other necessary documents together in order to complete my law school application(s).  The process is just beginning, but it already feels like a huge step forward.

Second, things are starting to finally come together around the house. My Daddy is the best, and he's been helping me finish projects including the kitchen and living room.  I broke down last month and decided that I would just pay someone to come in to paint the living room and the kitchen.  After almost 18 months of saying "I'll get to it when I have time", it was time to fess up to the fact that I would never have time to actually get around to these projects as long as I work the hours I do for my job. Once the painting was completed, Dad and I have worked to put the cabinets together, finish up the details in the kitchen, and start to hang up decorations around the house.

Little by little, my stacks of stuff in storage and piled up in the office and spare bedroom are starting to dwindle down. I still have quite a bit to go, but at least some progress is being made. My goal is to have everything finally sorted in its place and have the cluttered cleared out by the end of July/first of August in time for Chris and maybe another roomie to move in. I can't wait until everything is sorted and settled. It will be nice to actually feel like I'm truly moved into my home, even if it is two years after the fact.

It's kind of ironic and I guess symbolic in some ways that I'm starting to get my house into order both literally and metaphorically.  Maybe it's karma telling me that I'm heading in the right direction with my life now. At any point in the last 18 months, things could have moved forward with my house, but the right factors were never in place at the right time.  But now that I'm making decisions to move forward with my life, it's just ironic that factors came into place for me to also get my house in order...literally.

Lastly, I'm making a concerted effort start losing weight. It's been a struggle, I won't lie, to even get the motivation I need to begin, but I'm tired of being tired...I'm tired of not being comfortable in my own skin anymore. I was actually quite disgusted when I stepped on the scale to see what my starting weight was, so much so, in fact, that I went out and bought a second scale because I didn't think it was accurate. :( It's funny, though, because this is the heaviest weight I've ever been (only twice now in my life), and yet the first time I was this heavy I was 2 dress sizes bigger.  I have no idea where all this weight is on me because many people say I don't honestly look as big as I say I weigh, but scales don't lie...

Starting weight: 180
Weight after week 1: 178
2lbs down, and 38 to go

I promise to keep trying to blog more often because I know that doing so helps to keep me more accountable to all of the changes I'm trying to make. There is definitely lots more to talk about, both good and bad, but that's another day and another blog. :)